Hi Everyone,
I’ve had all the good intentions to update this blog regularly, but as I’ve found, the role of a Daddy is quite time consuming.
We both had come to the conclusion that we are very lucky as parents, in regard to how Kathryn is, not just because of what a gorgeous bub she is (and as her Dad, I can say that), but because of how relatively easy she is to look after.
For the first month and a bit, Kathryn needed feeding about every 4 hours, so we had the nighttime feeds. But gradually, Kathleen slowly didn’t need to feed so much at night, and started sleeping more and more through the night, till like now, she can go to bed at around 9pm and sleep through to almost 6am. Of course she wakes a bit ravenous, but nothing Mum can’t handle. We have been told by many other parents how lucky we are there, and I do wonder how we would cope with the lack of sleep some end up getting because of thier baby waking every 2-4 hours. We count our Blessings.
We have a nighttime routine: Feed, change, bath, clothe, feed, bed. This seems to work very well. The first feed ensures Kathryn is content for the bath, and the second feed puts her to sleep. We did for a while bathe her in a baby bath, but that was no fun for all involved (and ALL hands were on deck for that), so we tried having Kathryn have a bath with Mum. She seems to like that, so while Mum and Bub play in the bath, Dad gets the bed ready. For bed, we put Kathryn in a basinet in our room (I know there are a lot of schools of thought in regards to a baby’s sleeping location, but this was our choice). Just last week, she has now moved into a cot in her own room, and is doing well (much to the delight of Mum and Dad).
Kathryn is totally a Socialite. She loves being around people. She loves seeing people, and probably more so, being seen by people. She is happiest when Mum (and when he can, Dad) takes her out to shopping centers, parks, festivals, anywhere there are crowds. We took her to the Sherwood community festival, which was very crowded and had a few loud bands playing, and after about an hour of looking around, she fell asleep in Mum’s baby sling. She amazes me some days. She definitely sleeps a lot better if she has been out and about. If she has a day at home, she seems to get bored, no matter how much Mum plays and reads and sings and feeds her, leading to a bout of Cabin fever in Mum, and slowly going spare. So, while Daddy has to go to work, Mum tried to get out whenever she can for her own sanity. 
Kathryn also started smiling (not from wind) around 4 weeks, and then laughing around 6-8 weeks. She now has a cackle that is such a crack up to listen to. 
Kathryn had her baptism early December, which she was very good, and slept through half of it (being the center of attention for the first part, why stay awake for the second part of the service where she is not?). Mum had gotten her use to the idea of water getting poured on her head at every bath-time, so no objections when Father Ray performed the Baptism.
We also celebrated Kathryns first Christmas. We doubt she understood any of it, but enjoyed the time with the family, and made out like a bandit.
Anyway, enough of my waffling, people just want to see the pictures.
Love, Kathleen, Kathryn, and Keith
